Internationalisation Project at Campus Gotland

Campus Gotland is attracting more and more students and teachers from around the world. We need to identify how the support services should be organised to facilitate incoming and outgoing students and staff, and to make Campus Gotland suitable as an international meeting place. This is to contribute to internationally competitive education and research at Campus Gotland and strengthen the collaboration with Region Gotland and other actors in international contexts.

In light of the above, a special internationalisation project was initiated in 2018-2019 with the aim of developing Campus Gotland as an international environment and meeting place, strengthen the support of international students and teachers and generally increase internationalisation at Campus Gotland. The project was in turn divided into the following three subprojects:

1. From Admission to Welcome
2. Education Administration and Student Support
3. Workplace Language, Culture and Identity

Facts - Governance - Contact

The project ended during the autumn 2019. Summary and recommendations.

• Map the student’s path from admission to welcome at Campus Gotland, propose improvements based on the student’s perspective and implement decided changes.
• Map and clarify Campus Gotland’s part in the university’s communication to international students, at various organisational levels, propose improvements based on the student’s perspective and implement decided changes.
• Map and clarify responsibilities and the division of work for Campus Gotland students with a housing guarantee.
• Identify and illustrate prioritised areas of improvement that can facilitate international students’ contacts with local authorities and other relevant actors on Gotland.

Subproject manager: Maria Ljungqvist.
Project team: Annika Jörnemark, Dag Lanestedt, Lovísa Eiríksdóttir and Shirin Mavadati.
Subproject plan 1: From admission to welcome (pdf)

• Mapping the course offering in English and identifying current and future needs for course offerings in English for elective semesters in the international programmes at Campus Gotland.
• Implementing procedures to monitor planning of the course offering in English that illustrate the options for international students, incoming and outgoing, and coordinating common needs.
• Coordinating support for programme coordinators or the equivalent with regard to mobility windows for study abroad.
• Identifying and proposing what support functions and activities we should offer for international students. And possible reinforcement needs.
• Identifying Rindi’s role and clarifying the interface between Rindi and Campus Gotland with regard to support and communication to students.

Subproject manager: Christer Waldenström.
Project team: Jonathan Schalk, Sara Utas Vestling and Micaela Janatuinen.
Subproject plan 2: Education administration and student support (pdf)

• Implementing the university’s communication to internationals language policy based on the conditions at Campus Gotland.
• Prioritising international and intercultural skills development in development discussions.
• Developing inspirational materials for international skills development.
• Mapping needs for educational support to make use of international perspectives in courses.
• Overhaul of the sign programme at Campus Gotland with proposals of measures and implementation.
• Identifying and proposing what support employees need to arrange international conferences and meetings at Campus Gotland.

Subproject manager: Stefan Myrgård.
Subproject plan 3: Workplace language, culture and identity (pdf)

In the 2019/2020 academic year, four international bachelor's programmes (out of a total of 19) and ten international one- and two-year master's programmes (out of a total of 12) are offered at Campus Gotland. Of about 1,250 full-year students studying on campus (i.e. not distance students), around 20% are estimated to be international students.

Governance

The subprojects are part of a project organisation and are led by a steering committee on internationalisation at Campus Gotland.

Project owner and chair of the steering committee
Olle Jansson, Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor for Campus Gotland

Members of the steering committee
Tord Berglund-Fred, Head of unit at the Unit of services – Campus Gotland
Erika Dabhilkar, head of Unit at the International office within the Student Affairs and Academic Registry Division
Emma Prowse, lecturer, Department of Game Design
Micaela Janatuinen, chairman at Gotland student union Rindi (until May 2019)
Christer Waldenström, project manager at the internationalisation project.

Continuous reporting from the steering committee to the Planning Council for Campus Gotland takes place during the project period.

The internationalisation project at Campus Gotland, which runs from September 2018 to September 2019, is taking place within the framework of the Programme for Campus Gotland 2017-2021.

Project directives: Support for internationalisation at Campus Gotland (pdf)

The project "Support for internationalisation" terminated during the autumn 2019. A summary as well as some recommendations will follow below.

The number of international students at Uppsala University - Campus Gotland has in recent years  increased dramatically. In 2014, there were about 40 international students in total, studying at Campus Gotland. In 2019, this number is about 250. This means that the international students now make up about 20 percent of the total number of students in Visby. The research projects and activities at Campus Gotland have also become more international and the number of international researchers has increased. In conclusion, the former regional Gotland University has developed into an international campus and continues to develop in this direction.

The ongoing internationalization of Campus Gotland brings with it, expanded but also completely new demands for support and service to international students, staff and guests/visitors. A project has therefore been commissioned to investigate what is needed to strengthen and develop support and service for international students and to propose efforts that strengthen Campus Gotland as an international environment. Several of the proposals from the project have already been tested with good results. Others remains to be implemented.

This is a summary of the most important recommendations the project suggest. 

1. Establish an “international forum” for program managers / study directors, etc. for the international programs. Expected outcome: increased collaboration and co-planning. The forum can also work as a reference group in general matters of internationalization. The forum is expected to discuss and collaborate on courses and activities offered for the international students, give advice on administrative functions and processes and on support and service, etc. In this forum, the actions proposed in this study should be evaluated and new areas of development identified and planned.
2. Establish a new function "international coordinator" at the Department of common service and administration. The international coordinator will be responsible for the international forum and for preparing the forum's meetings and activities. The coordinator also reviews student information and handles some of the activities for international students. The coordinator is also involved in the work of quality assurance of the administrative support and service towards international student, in general.
3. For increasing cooperation between Uppsala and Gotland in the work on internationalization, it is proposed that the Advisor of vice chancellor for Campus Gotland is invited to the Internationalization Council at the university.
4. Carry out a thorough annual review of the web information for international students in collaboration with the program managers and the Department for internationalization.
5. Plan and carry out reception-activities for the new international students according to the model developed for autumn 2019.
6. Increase coordination between Uppsala and Gotland in the work on housing guarantee for students who are liable to pay fees.
7. Develop information on contacts the international students need to have with external actors (healthcare, banking, telecom companies and regional employers for internships, Science Park Gotland, etc.)
8. Increase collaboration between international programs (via international forum) to strengthen and expand the range of elective, independent courses in English.
9. Plan and execute marketing and information activities for outgoing students and staff, according to the communication plan developed.
10. Develop and strengthen working methods and processes in existing administrative support functions.
11. Improve the Language workshop's support for international students at Campus Gotland. Increase collaboration between studyprogrammes and the Language workshop in planning the course Basic Swedish and other courses / seminars for international students in addition to their program studies.
12. Continue to implement the university's language policy based on the conditions at Campus Gotland.
13. Offer staff courses in English, annually, in collaboration with Unit för Professional English (UPE).
14. Offer other courses or seminars annually for staff, in collaboration with departments (for example: courses on intercultural communication)
15.  Strengthen support and services for international conferences and meetings. Produce "package solutions" for different types of international activities and visits.